Update on Many Things

Note from Mom: Thanks very much to everyone for all the kind words about TaiChi. At her age, and certainly with all her age-related health issues, we knew she wasn’t going to live forever, although 19 is about as close to forever as a miniature poodle can get. And truthfully, passing in her sleep was the kindest thing she could have done for me; she hated the car and the vet's office, and I am certain that she wanted to spare me the pain of having to make a hard decision about her. As for the statement about me only knowing her for 6 years, I should clarify; my husband knew her from a young dog, but I didn’t meet my husband until slightly over 6 years ago, and thus TaiChi didn’t come into my life until 6 years ago. Although as soon as she met me, she saw “SUCKER” tattooed on my forehead, and glommed on to me as the provider of treats and belly rubs. I joke that I married my husband for his dogs, but as much as I joke about it, I pretty much mean it regarding TaiChi! ;-) I think that as soon as TaiChi and I met it was love at first sight for both of us, and we adopted each other almost immediately. Looking back, I can’t imagine life without having had TaiChi in it. She was, and will always be my little girl. So thank you again for all the kind words; if I know TaiChi, she is bouncing around, having tracked down her brothers that had gone before her, and has them whipped back into shape (as I’m sure Ben and Billy were wreaking all kinds of havoc across The Bridge)!

***

Abby and I second Mom’s words; TaiChi was a great little big sister, and I will miss her always, and will never forget the lessons she taught me about respecting my elders.

That said, Mom and Dad have done their very best to keep us busy. When we were here in the fall, we found this really cool trail called the JEM trail that goes along the Virgin River for a while, and then goes for miles and miles and miles. Abby is new to this whole hiking thing, but has taken to it like a pro; I finally have a great hiking buddy!


We have been doing variations of this trail pretty much every day (it’s close, and it goes forever) since we’ve been here. Except for yesterday, when it rained, and we stayed inside and watched it rain.

Mom, enjoying a good rain.

And we played bitey-face.


Or tail, or something.


In other news, Mom had her birthday this last weekend, and Abby and I inspected the cake to make sure that it wasn’t poisonous.

(Well, it would have been to us, but Mom didn’t let us eat any. It didn’t seem to kill Mom, so I guess it wasn’t poisonous! She was going to try to hide her age, but *sheesh* Mom, if you didn't want people to know how old you are, you shouldn't have bought ginormous candles!)

Abby gave Mom a kiss for luck!

Happy Birthday, Mom! (Even if you are on your way to becoming old!)


Today we went on a 5.5 mile hike, and we were all pretty worn out afterward!

(Yes, the Little Monster made it all 5.5 miles, but she’s been sleeping pretty much since we got home! I think Mom and Dad need to take her on longer and longer hikes so she doesn’t have extra energy at the end of the day. Because her excess energy always seems to transfer into bitey-face. And I have to hide behind the chairs to get away from the beast!)


Mom promises to take the camera on tomorrow’s hike, and hopefully she’ll get some good hiking pictures (although she’s saying something about how it’s harder to get pictures when one hand is full with Abby’s leash…). Hmmm..

Thanks again, everyone.

*kissey face*
-Fiona

TaiChi, 1991-2010

TaiChi crossed the Rainbow Bridge last night at about 3am. She was sleeping comfortably and surrounded by her family. She did me the ultimate favor of deciding for herself when she was going to leave us, rather than forcing me to make the decision for her.

As you know, TaiChi had been struggling with her health for a while, and it seemed as though the drive to southern Utah had taxed her even more. Yesterday it was at the point that I had called a local vet and was prepared to bring her in to say goodbye, but within a half hour of making the call she had rallied and was up walking around, eating, drinking, and very alert, making it clear that she wasn't quite ready to leave us yet. She had a good dinner of steak and got lots of snuggie time with me and her sisters. She left us quietly in her sleep - her final act of "I'll do what I want to do, when I want to do it". Stubborn old lady! ;-)

She will, of course, be sorely missed, but I feel very lucky to have had her in my life for the 6 years that I did.

Run free, my beloved girl!

All sorts of excitement!

I'm afraid that if I keep starting posts with "Mom is such a slacker" that I'm going to just sound like a broken record. "Broken record." Teehee. Raise your hands if you've never seen a record before! Oh. That includes me. What is a record? Maybe Dennis knows...

Anyhoo, let's just accept as a postulate that Mom is a slacker. No proof is needed, and it doesn't need to be stated again. Okay? Okay. Let's move on.

First. Mom thinks that maybe she should change TaiChi's name to Lazarus. Because she's back to eating 2-3 meals a day with vigor. Obviously, anyone who is as old as Methuselah TaiChi is always day-by-day, but given what was going on a week ago, Mom thinks that TaiChi returned from the brink yet again. Which, of course, is very exciting for all of us! However, I think if Mom changes TaiChi's name now, everyone might get confused (especially since Mom seems to have a tough enough time getting our names right... I mean, I've been called 'Abby' on more than one occasion. Mom says it is genetic, but as usual, I have no idea what' she's talking about. Maybe Granny and Grandpa can shed a little light on that...), so I think TaiChi will remain TaiChi. Just so Mom's brain doesn't explode.


Now, on to the whole "school" thing. Hello!!! If someone (Mom!!!) had told me that there would be turkey hotdogs there, I would have insisted that I started school A Long Time Ago. I mean, I can deal with A LOT for turkey hotdogs. And the teacher? She suggested that Mom go buy some turkey hotdogs as special treats, so I totally like this teacher!!! Class itself was actually kind of fun (I got a toy to play with, as well as the turkey hotdog pieces, so that right there makes it a winner!). There is one other doggie in my class, an 8 month old terrier of some sort named Bella. She came with her whole entourage, including her two human brothers and her mom. The first 45 minutes of the class was spent doing stuff where I was supposed to focus on Mom rather than all the other Very Interesting stuff in the room. Our class is in one of the storage rooms for PetCo, so there are big pallets of bags of dog food, and treats and stuffies, and people come in and out of the room getting stuff, so it was Very Hard to focus on Mom. (But the turkey hotdogs really helped!) But, once I figured out that Mom was The Source of the turkey hotdogs, things went pretty well. Then, for the next part of the class, we did a 'socialization' exercise. Which seemed to consist of walking around PetCo and me meeting some other doggies. Mom seemed to be happy with how I dealt with the other doggies in the store. Then, at the very end, Bella and I went back into the room and we got to run around while the humans talked about "homework". I haven't seen Mom hitting the books, but Mom and I have been doing some stuff that involves turkey hotdogs (and other treats). I don't want Mom to get in trouble at the next class, so I hope that Mom is doing her homework, too!

Mom apologizes for no pictures, but she says that I have to be a little calmer before she can manage me, the turkey hotdogs and the camera. Hmmph. I wonder what she means by that.

Now, on to the next order of business. Pressies!!!

Mom actually feels guilty about this next part, but I keep telling her "better late than never".

TaiChi and I got a box from Mango yesterday, and Mom let us check it out...

But Mom said before we opened the box from Mango, we had another box to open.

Another box?!? Apparently Mom was part of Twix's Paw-It-Forward back in November (!), and a box arrived while we were in southern Utah, and because Mom wanted to get pictures, she wanted to wait until she had the time where she could devote a post to it, and things got busier, and, well, to make a long story short, we still had another box to open!

Abby offered to help me give Mom a guilt trip about waiting so long. (Twix even included a Christmas card - which should tell you How Long we've been waiting to open this!)

(Mom feels totally guilty now. This look gets her every time!)

Anyway, it was Well Worth the Wait!!! The box was jam-packed full of goodies!

A Most Excellent package!!! Thanks, Twix!

Needless to say, Abby generously "helped" me test out the goodies.


So even though it too us For Ever to get this box opened and the pictures posted, Thank You So Much, Twix!!!! You are the bestest!!!!

Now, we have to live up to our part of the bargain; the first 3 people who want to be part of the 'Paw-it-Forward' should leave a comment, and Mom will get in touch with you, and will send you a box of goodies; then, when you open your goodies, post pictures, and invite others to play.

Thanks again, and thanks for your patience, Twix!!!!

Mom says that we'll get the box from Mango opened in the next day or two; Abby and TaiChi have been sucking up a ton of Mom's time, and she seems to be tired all the time, so she's slow on getting posts done, and on following on other bloggies. Hopefully in time Mom can catch up on her sleep soon, and get back on track.

I think Abby is finally settling down for the night, so I'm going to nap while I can!

*kissey face*
-Fiona

Updates, and School and Stuff

First, Mom wants to let everyone know that TaiChi actually ate real food today. Mom roasted a chicken for dinner, and TaiChi mooched chicken off Dad and Mom. (And Mom's tough. Dad's a softie when it comes to getting parts of his dinner, but Mom's a bit of a hard-ass when it comes to feeding us off her plate. But even Mom fed TaiChi, and she snarfed it right up.) Needless to say, Mom and Dad are both thrilled. Not wanting to upset her stomach, Mom's going easy, she'll give TaiChi more real food tomorrow once she's certain that TaiChi's stomach is okay. Mom will keep supplementing TaiChi's diet with the Nutri-Cal because TaiChi can use all the calories she can get, but for now, Mom and Dad are thrilled that The Little Old Lady is interested in food again. She's also up and moving around a little bit more (hey, it's all relative), which is cool.

Next. Yesterday was The Little Monster's first Puppy Class. I am not sure why Abby is going school to learn to be a puppy, because it seems to me that Abby already has the puppy thing down, but what do I know? I mean, I didn't get to go to Puppy School.... I learned the old fashioned way...

Here's me. I totally had the puppy thing down at an early age!

And then here's the Little Monster, who clearly needs to learn how to be a puppy.

Mom says she sees a family resemblance, but not me. I don't see it At All. Nope. Not at all!

*ahem*

Anyhoo, Abby's first day of Puppy Class was Saturday, and Mom was kind of bummed that Abby was the only puppy there. However, I guess they have other puppy classes, and they will set up a group "play date" once a week so Abby can get socialized. Mom is threatening to bring me to this, as well. Just because I'm a wee bit anti-social, she's going to inflict a mess of puppies on me?!? I don't know about this...

Sorry, kiddo, but you need to learn how to be around other dogs. Oh, and if you didn't know, you are starting obedience classes tomorrow. Because not only are you anti-social, but you lack some, ah, basic skills.

MOM! You are kidding, right?!?

Nope. Buck up. You are both going to school. Time for you both to become edjumacated!

Hmm. I'm not so sure about this. But I guess I'll keep you posted. School. Me. Hmphh.

And double hmphh. But... When Abby came home from Puppy School, Mom brought home some new treats, so maybe I could live with the school thing if it means more treats for me.... The classes are through PetCo, so, of course, it's awfully easy to pick up more treats/toys after class....

Okay, since this school thing now has me all worried, I'm going to have to console myself with playing tug-of-war with The Little Monster.


Heehee. I may be a goofball, but I'll still bigger than she is!

And finally, a comfortably resting TaiChi. Notice how she has "borrowed" one of our toys as a pillow. She is clearly still In Charge. :-)

*kissey face*
-Fiona

My Cracker Dog Sister, and an Update

The Little Monster My darling little sister Abby is a cracker dog. Mango warned me, but I couldn't get Mom to listen, so now I've got this crazy cracker dog little sister.

I know this picture is out of focus, but I think it pretty much says it all.

If that's not a cracker dog, I don't know what is.

And another thing about this little monster. She totally works the whole "cute puppy" angle. I mean, she's got our (it should be mine, but since we play tug-of-war with it, I'll call it ours, to be generous) rope toy, and is trying convince me that I don't want it.

Like I would be a bully if I took it away from her or something. *sheesh*

So she's all innocent-looking, and yet, she does this:

If you can't tell, her hind feet are in the air, and she is in mid-pounce on my poor unsuspecting self. I'm telling you, she's crazy.

Do you need more proof? Look at this:

Cracker dog. I'm telling ya!

And the worst part about this cracker dog I've been saddled with? Mom and Dad are so easily suckered by this:

And this:

*sigh*

At least she's good at tugging.

I guess I'll keep her for now.

*kissey face*
-Fiona, the Plagued.

Oh, yeah. Mom wants to add something.


Thanks for all the comments regarding TaiChi. TaiChi was spitting out every food option I was giving her, and so I had resorted to the peanut butter because it was the only thing I could think of that she couldn't spit out. I know that heavy protein isn't optimal for kidney disease, but I figured that too much protein was a better alternative than her not getting any calories. As soon as Twinkie's Mom told me (and others followed up) about Nutri-Cal, I tracked some down, and started to give it to TaiChi today. It is perfect because she can't spit it out, and is certainly better for her than peanut butter. She's not "actively" eating it (i.e. licking it off my finger when it is in front of her nose), but she'll eat it when I put it in her mouth. Knowing that she's getting "good" calories is a huge relief for me. I know it won't cure her long-term issues, but I feel better knowing that she's not starving. Thanks for all the comments and suggestions, and thank you for helping me find something that works. And thank you for the support; TaiChi was my husband's dog long before I met him, but (I joke - mostly!) I married him for his dogs, and TaiChi adopted me very quickly and has been my "little girl" ever since. She was even my de facto bride's maid.




She has taken very good care of me over the years, and the least I can do is take the best care of her that I can.

Again, thanks for all the advice and support.

-Dr. Liz

Snow and Stuff

Yay!!! We are finally getting some snow!!!

The Little Monster My dear little sister Abby is even starting to get the snow thing down.


(Obligatory cute puppy picture.)

Now, on to some less exciting news.

Mom’s been having a hard time posting about this, so I’ll try for her. After several days of eating quite well on her steak-added diet, TaiChi’s appetite dropped off to one meal a day, and then went down to just being hand-fed yummies, and then yesterday and today she hasn’t wanted to eat anything, so Mom has been sticking peanut butter in her mouth, so that she’ll eat something. In all other aspects, TaiChi is comfortable, she’s going outside (well, on the porch) when she needs to, she drinks water, she takes on fluids, she’s not throwing up, but she’s just not interested in food. Needless to say, the long-term prognosis for this isn’t good, but for the moment, TaiChi sleeps comfortably, and seems to be happy being next to Mom. We’ll keep you posted on things, and as Mom keeps reminding herself, TaiChi has had a very long life (she could be 19 or older – her age is a bit of a question; she’s 18 at the minimum), and has had kidney problems for several years; it’s Mom’s good care of her that has kept her as healthy as she has been for so long. I know that Mom feels very lucky for having known TaiChi for as long as she has, and I agree with her; Abby and I are very lucky to have TaiChi as a big sister.

Sometimes TaiChi uses me as a pillow! :-)

*kissey face*
-Fiona

At least the Little Monster is Good For SOMETHING!

Something other than bitey-face, that is....


The Little Monster is FINALLY learning how to play tug-of-war! Maybe she'll turn out to be okay, after all. And, I've heard rumors that Mom has signed her up to go to Puppy School - I guess so she can learn how to be a puppy rather than the miniature dog she is pretending to be right now. (I mean, she's climbing up and down stairs now, and she's only 10 weeks old. Who does she think she is?!?)

More later. I'm tired; the beast is wearing me out.

*kissey face*
-Fiona

Mom has really been slacking

*sheesh* I know that I have mentioned how tough it is to find good help around here, but since Mom and Dad are "skiing" more, Mom is getting behinder and behinder. I mean, they leave in the morning, locking up the two little dogs, and leaving me in charge (note from Fi's Mom: both Abby and TaiChi are crated - separately - because Abby is too little to be trusted, and TaiChi seems to have lost 'reverse' and so she will walk into a corner and stay there until she is rescued; by crating her she can't get into situations that she can't get out of). Which is fine, because I can totally run this house. Bark at the UPS guy? Got that covered. Bark at the racoons? Yep. Totally. Bark at the girls in crates? Yep. Hide in the other room when Abby starts to make too much noise? All over that! (Luckily TaiChi is kind of deaf, and sleeps a lot, so she can ignore Abby's drama queen ways pitiful cries...)


So Being In Charge is totally cool, especially since I've got complete run of the house. But once Mom and Dad get back, Mom has "things to do". Like getting the little Abby-Monster outside so she can piddle. And getting TaiChi outside, so she can piddle. And feeding TaiChi (more on this...), and finally getting around to getting me outside. (Having the best bladder in the household seems to be a bit of a curse, if you ask me. But I'm a Good Dog, so I'm not going to protest in some unhygienic way.) And then Mom has other Things To Do, like ROTEs (which I sometimes get to go on), and taking TaiChi to the vet, and on and on and on. And at the end of the day, she wants to watch teevee with people doing wintery sports in Canada.

Eh. Thinking about this, I guess I'd rather that she be refereeing me and Abby than helping me type. But still. You'd think she could do all of that and help me type. But whatever.

So.... Enough griping. First, we received our awards from the Relentlessly Huge, for our wins at MangoMinster. Wow. Even I'm impressed at how well we did. Totally cool. Thanks to everyone who voted for us, and to the judges, and to Mango and his Momma for putting the whole thing on! (Oh, and thanks to Moose for the pre-competition partying; that was So Much Fun!!!)

Thanks to everyone for honoring my Fallen Comrade, Mr. Bufus. We miss him every day. Mom is going to print off a copy of this to go by his picture in the the living room.

Two awards for TaiChi!!! I can't believe how she just dominated the 'Bad Sport' group. Oh. Wait. I totally can. Especially when I tell you about her latest visit to the vet. You Will Not Believe This. But more on that in a bit.


And me!!! Sporty Dog!!! I am so thrilled with this!!! Because I LOVE everything sporty (except for maybe "skiing" since I can't do it with Mom and Dad). Thank you So Much!!!

We are very honored to have been a part of MangoMinster 2010, and very flattered to have done so well! Thanks EVERYONE!!!

Now, on to TaiChi. Wow. You cannot believe the latest. Mom took her to the V-E-T yesterday to have a check-up, since she's a million years old. They checked her blood pressure, and her eyes, and stuck her with a few needles, and did all sorts of other Old Dog Check-Up things. And then Mom talks to the vet about how TaiChi is losing weight. And he says that yes, because of her kidney problems, she will likely continue to lose weight, but if Mom can get her to eat as much as possible that might help a little. So then Mom says that the night before they had had some grilled sirloin, and she drizzled the juices in TaiChi's dish, and TaiChi was Very Happy about it (which she was). So then, the vet says, "If TaiChi likes steak, and it doesn't cause problems with her digestion, then you could probably give her a little with each meal. It will give her more calories, and it will be something that she really enjoys."

Steak. At every meal?!? You cannot be serious!!!! And what does Mom do? She stops by the store on the way home, and buys some steak, because Mom and Dad don't eat it that often. Top sirloin (because the vet said it should be lean beef). For TaiChi!!! None for me or Abby.

*sheesh*

However, I guess I would expect no less from a Champion Bad Sport! (Lucky dog!!!)

And now Mom says I have to end this because she and Dad are going to go do this skiing stuff again. But Mom promises that she'll get some more pictures of me in the snow. Soon. (Uh-huh. I'll be holding my breath on that one!)

*kissey face*
-Fiona

Note From Fi's Mom: The vet did indeed say that TaiChi can have a little steak at each meal. She doesn't get a lot; just enough to make her food more interesting to her, and steak is one of the things that she truly enjoys. Her kidneys are what they are, and a little extra protein isn't going to effect them much. Besides, I think TaiChi would rather have the steak than be on a totally bland diet that she hates. And at 18+ years old, I'm not going to deny her any little bit of pleasure that she can get out of life.

TaiChi's Two Cents*

TaiChi here. Because I have a few things to say about my little sisters.

*sigh*

Seriously. All I can do is sigh. The youth of today is, well, going to the dogs. I can't believe that my parents have inflicted two crazy beasts on me in my golden years. I am perfectly happy to nap the day away, but as of late, I've had to put up with this:

Fi may be naked after her latest haircut, but she still manages to look like the Wolfman.

And I've also had to put up with this:

Great, another Wolfman in training....

And really, how is a girl supposed to get her beauty rest when this is going on?

I think I might go on vacation...

Will no one rid me of these meddlesome youngsters?!?

And sorry, Dennis, but that naked doggie is Most Definitely my big little sister Fiona. After all, here is only one Flying Fiona. Even if she is only half the dog she used to be! :-D


But trust me. She's still a goofball, naked or not. But between you, me, and the lamppost, I'm glad that Mom and Dad aren't going to take ME to that groomer! Teehee!

*zzzzz*
-TaiChi

*Not to be confused with Tank's Two Cents ; I just liked the sound of it!

Okay, maybe she's not THAT bad (Abby, I mean)

First, I would like to offer hearty congratulations to my friend and fellow Goldendoodle Clive for winning Best In Show at MangoMinster! It is a well-deserved win, and frankly, TaiChi and I were honored to even be in the same ring as him! Yay for Clive and Goldendoodles everywhere! *grin*

Now, on to the matter of my little sissy, Abby. Okay, maybe she’s not completely evil. But she’s not exactly MELLOW. So maybe read the last two posts and stick them together. Because even I’ll admit that she’s actually kind of cute when she’s sleeping.


But…. This little 7 lb thing has balls, ah, moxie. That’s the word. Moxie.


Look at this Dingo! Mom bought Abby some puppy-sized Dingos, because Abby has these crazy-wild puppy chewing teeth. Mom also got me some adult-sized ones. What does the little squirt do? She takes mine and has been happily chomping away on it!


The same thing with these other chewies. But Mom decided to just give Abby a normal-size-dog chewie, even though she looks ridiculous with it!

I don't know why I couldn't get this picture rotated, but it give you the idea...

She’s got her own, and yet she comes after mine!

BTW, Abby doesn't usually wear diapers, it's just when she's in the Big Bed - Mom doesn't want to have to change the sheets all the time, so the diapers are "just in case" - meaning just in case Mom isn't paying attention!


*sigh. And I’ll admit it. I’m a softie. She pretty much gets what she wants from me. I mean, she’s my little sissy. I don’t want her growing up thinking I’m a meany. Besides. Mom says that there is a possibility that Abby will be bigger than me when she is full grown, and I’d just as soon not have something bigger than me carrying a grudge, if you know what I mean!

TaiChi seems to have warmed up to the squirt, too.


Although TaiChi is not too keen when Abby tries to step on her or eat her dog tags… I guess Abby makes a good pillow.

And… Proof so that years down the road she can’t deny it, TaiChi is totally bigger than Abby right now! Abby is the littlest dog in the house!


And finally: Can you figure out where one of us stops and the next of us begins? Even Mom is a little sketchy, since we all seem to have the same hair color (especially when she uses the flash).


*kissey face*

-Fiona

PeeEss: I’ve been looking a little shaggy lately because my old groomers moved/went out of business/something, and it took Mom a while to find me a place that is up to my high standards. So, next Friday I am going to a “doggy spa”. Uh-huh. I’ll let you know how it goes!

PeePeeEss: Thanks to everyone who supported TaiChi and me in MangoMinster! We had So Much Fun and met a ton of new friends! Winning awards were pretty cool, too! Thanks everyone, and double thanks to Mango and his Mom for putting the whole ginormous thing together!!!